"The hay is in the barn" so they say. I need to have faith that the hard work and miles spent playing in the mountains will pay off tomorrow. There is always that lingering voice of uncertainty that pops up once I step up to the starting line. Regardless of how hard I trained there are always those variables outside the realm of my control that factor in on race day including but not limited to : congestion in the w's, stomach issues, nerves, weather, Aunt Flo's visit, work, and numerous life stresses. After tapering, I am eager to get on Barr Trail again. My body craves running and gets irritable when it doesn't run. In the past, I didn't take this much time off before a race but my experimentation with longer tapers before previous races this season, has proven effective. Friends who know way more about running than I do have told me there is nothing you can do to improve your fitness on race week but a lot you can do to mess it up. My goal is to get up to the summit under 4 hours. That would be a PR for me. If I fail to meet my goal, after summiting, I am heading down the backside of the peak to the Crags and back up. That may mean riding down with the Ops team after the suffer-fest. I'm thinking positively, however, I'm packing my larger hydration pack into my sweat check bag...just in case. Good luck and goodnight.